October 12, 2016

Stewart Ave Stabbing Suspect Released for Up To Six Months

Khaliq Gale, 21, one suspect charged with stabbing Zachary Pealo, 27, on Stewart Avenue two weeks ago, will be released on his own recognizance for up to six months following his preliminary hearing at Wednesday.

Gale, who turned himself in to the Ithaca Police Department last Friday, accompanied by his attorney, was charged with Assault in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree.

According to court documents, the stabbing resulted from an unsuccessful drug deal, when the victim of the stabbing arranged to sell Gale marijuana.

Gale reportedly took the box of marijuana as Pealo was retrieving it from his car and ran towards the Stewart Ave. bridge. When Pealo tried to retrieve the box, Gale stabbed him in the thigh. No one involved in the stabbing was related to Cornell, IPD has confirmed.

According to IPD Officer Jamie Williamson, the second suspect involved in the violent altercation — who allegedly possessed a handgun — has yet to be identified.

Related

“What I want for [Green] is life in jail because my son will never be able to see the sun shine,” Nazaire said. “He will never be able to walk this earth anymore, but this criminal, he gets to live, he gets to be sleeping in a comfortable bed, he gets food, you understand? He gets to speak to his loved ones.”

This is an investigation that absolutely cannot slip from the minds of this community. As the police grow quiet about the issue, the Ithaca and Cornell communities must continue to demand justice and closure.

9 thoughts on “Stewart Ave Stabbing Suspect Released for Up To Six Months”

Perhaps they found out he was on the Cornell approved vendor list, still the stabbing part seems a bit outside of acceptable behavior for an ivy league campus, doesn’t it? Perhaps Cornell can issue a code of conduct position, a moral imperative not to stab others.

It wasn’t on an ivy league campus. This took place in a town in upstate New York. Is every criminal event in New Haven or Manhattan acceptable behavior for Yale and Columbia students? They’re simply unrelated. Anything can happen in these towns and cities.

Why stop with comparing Ithaca to the armpit of Ivy League college cities, New Haven? Why not say bad things happen in Aleppo, so it does not matter that there were 4 people stabbed over a period of two months in three separate incidents! You should get a job in the Provost’s office! If you think the guy from Dryden happened to be on the Stewart Avenue bridge as pure coincidence with nothing to do with Cornell, situated amongst a sorority, fraternities and student housing and a stone’s throw from formal Cornell campus property, then you are not grounded in reality. This kind of violence is not the norm for Cornell, and we should not accept it as normal.

He was literally there to sell some weed to a kid; I never said it was coincidence. This happens all the time, all over Ithaca, and all over Cornell. He had nothing to do with the university. This isn’t a Cornell problem. It’s an Ithaca problem. This could have happened anywhere. No city is immune to crime. If you think crime shouldn’t happen in Ithaca because there’s a beautiful and prestigious Ivy League university next door, then you are not grounded in reality.

I’m not saying that because crimes happen in New Haven (or Aleppo…) that crime in Ithaca doesn’t matter. Of course it does. I’m just merely pointing out that this behavior has nothing to do with Cornell, and to say it’s “out of the norm for Cornell” is meaningless. Of course it’s out of the norm for Cornell, because it has no relation to Cornell or Cornell faculty/students. Cornell can’t stop or prevent off campus crime, and I seriously doubt a violence-prone criminal isn’t going to stop him/herself from committing a crime just because an Ivy League university is nearby.

gotcha, these guys drove from Dryden to the edge of the Cornell campus to make a fairly big drug deal, and you think it is a remarkable coincidence and has nothing to do with Cornell. Always glad to appreciate others perspectives.

The alleged rapist from February 2016 that is still currently being investigated was released on his own recognizance… I’m not saying I agree with it, or that it’s excused, but it seems to be standard procedure.